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Turkey’s Erdogan Threatened to Invade Israel: What Does It Really Mean?
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan leaves after attending a military parade to mark the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus in response to a short-lived Greek-inspired coup, in the Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus, in the divided city of Nicosia, Cyprus July 20, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
In 2017, I published a book on anti-Zionism and antisemitism in Turkey. In that book, besides describing the development of antisemitic and anti-Israel phenomena in Turkey over the years, I explored the question of whether Erdogan himself is an antisemite. I argued that whether or not he is personally antisemitic — a judgment I leave to the reader — the crucial issue is his influence on the rise and spread of antisemitic sentiment in Turkish society. Unlike other countries, antisemitism and anti-Zionism in Turkey are often dictated from above.
I was reminded of this after Erdogan’s recent threat to Israel, in which he asserted that Turkey would enter Israel as it had entered Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, and that nothing could be done to prevent it.
“We must be strong so that Israel does not continue its ridiculous actions against Palestine,” he said. This threat, partially intended to create fear that Israel might do to the Turks what it allegedly did to the Palestinians, came after Netanyahu’s speech to Congress but is not necessarily related to it, except as an attempt to gain popularity in an arena other than Washington. Erdogan has become obsessed with Netanyahu, portraying him in Turkish media as a new Hitler. This rhetoric is exemplified by a street ad with a graphic of Netanyahu’s face gradually transforming into Hitler’s. The image is captioned, “Hitler is not dead, he is only changing shape.” Netanyahu’s speech in Congress might have been a catalyst for the threat, but it was not the starting point of Erdogan’s hostility.
Erdogan’s statement came a day after the Hezbollah massacre of 12 Druze children in Majdal Shams, an event he did not address. Even after October 7, Erdogan said simply, “We invite all parties to act reasonably and avoid impulsive measures.”
Does Erdogan intend to send military units to Gaza or to provide aid to Hamas in the form of ammunition? Turkey’s arms exports have surged in recent years. In 2022, Turkey’s defense industry recorded a turnover of $10 billion, with arms exports at $4.4 billion and expected to increase. The Turkish drone Bayraktar, which has played a significant role in the Russia-Ukraine war as well as in Syria, Libya, and Nagorno-Karabakh, is not the only weapon Turkey produces.
Israel was surprised by Erdogan’s threat, though proof of his intentions surfaced as early as September 2023. This event was overshadowed by the October 2023 massacre. In September, customs officials at the port of Ashdod uncovered an attempt by Turkey to smuggle 16 tons of rocket material into the Gaza Strip. Two containers containing 54 tons of gypsum sacks that were sent by Turkey to Gaza were found to contain ammonium chloride, which is used by terrorist organizations in the Strip for rocket production.
What factors led Erdogan to make such a severe threat against Israel?
These threats should be viewed against the backdrop of Turkey’s rapprochement with Syria and Iran. Erdogan spent much of the last decade trying to topple Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, following a close personal relationship with Assad between 2007 and 2010 as part of Ankara’s “zero problems” policy with its neighbors. At one point, Erdogan even attempted to mediate peace talks between Syria and Israel. The current Turkish rapprochement with Assad, whom Erdogan has called a terrorist multiple times, is mainly related to anti-Syrian riots in several Turkish cities. In Ankara, opposition parties are calling for the mass deportation of Syrian refugees, and the government is turning to the Syrian regime it once sought to topple to help solve this problem. The riots exposed longstanding tensions between Syrians and Turks that are being exacerbated by economic pressures from Turkey’s high inflation. The Syrian issue poses a threat to Erdogan’s popularity within Turkey and strengthens criticism of him.
Beyond Syria and Iran, there is also a strengthening of relations between Turkey and Russia. In May 2023, the foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia, Syria and Iran met in Moscow. This warming of relations with enemies of the West is particularly notable as Turkey is a NATO member.
The Turkish threat to Israel and the Turkish-Israeli conflicts over the past decade and a half have repeatedly provided the Justice and Development Party and its leader with opportunities to position themselves as champions of Islam, an image they strive to project to fortify their electoral base. This base is under threat due to the erosion of political authority and the ongoing economic crisis, making it crucial for Erdogan to act prominently against Israel. Recall that about a decade ago, during his first presidential campaign, Erdogan erected large billboards showing him as the man who made Israel apologize for the Mavi Marmara incident. This is also why aviation, tourism, and trade relations between Israel and Turkey were almost completely halted by Erdogan’s order despite the tripling they had enjoyed through the countries’ economic ties. Nevertheless, Erdogan continues to face significant domestic criticism and protests regarding his policy toward Israel. In some circles, he is considered too lenient, as he has not suspended diplomatic relations and continues to allow a substantial supply of Azerbaijani gas to transit through Turkey on its way to Israel.
Criticism primarily comes from those close to Erdogan – particularly the Yeniden Refah Partisi (New Welfare Party), which gained popularity at the expense of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party in the last local elections (the party gained 6.19% percent of the votes). In his speech threatening Israel, Erdogan went out of his way to condemn Doğan Bekin, New Welfare Party Istanbul MP of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, thereby creating a direct link between the threat to Israel and this party.
Protests against the Justice and Development Party are not solely about economics or domestic and foreign politics. There is also controversy over a proposed law requiring the euthanization of stray dogs not housed in kennels. This law, which passed without consultation with veterinarians, sparked protests across the country. Such protests could ignite a broader movement, potentially leading to demonstrations driven by the ongoing economic crisis. Those demonstrations could be similar to the Gezi Park riots of 2013 or even more severe. It is therefore critical to Erdogan that he maintain domestic support.
Additionally, Turkey’s relationship with Hamas must be highlighted. Despite calls for Hamas leaders to leave Turkey after October 7, no action was taken to enforce this instruction. Turkish support for Hamas negatively affects ordinary Turkish citizens, including Turkish Jews. The law prohibiting dual citizenship with Israel further exacerbates alleged loyalty issues among Turkish Jews.
So what is the real significance of Erdogan’s threat?
It is unlikely that Turkey will send military units to Gaza at this point. Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel still exist. Turkey threatened to send flotillas and attack Israel after the Marmara incident in 2010 and following the denial of humanitarian aid to Gaza after October 7, but those threats turned out to be mere rhetoric. The current threat, while equally unlikely to be carried out, could indicate plans to send weapons and intelligence assistance to Israel’s rivals.
Secondly, as Turkey is a member of NATO, it is improbable that the US would permit such a scenario. Whether or not Erdogan’s threats have any substance, the simple fact of a country’s president threatening the military invasion of a country with which it has diplomatic relations is serious. This is significant for Israel, but also for other countries with which Turkey has relationships. Notably, aside from the extreme right leader in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, no other party has responded to the threat against Israel.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of Turkey’s occupation of Northern Cyprus, and Turkey continues to threaten Greece and Cyprus despite peace talks. The latter was warned by Sheikh Nasrallah not to allow Israel to attack from its territory in the event of war breaking out between Israel and Hezbollah, but it was also called upon to “stay away” from the conflict by Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s foreign minister.
It is noteworthy that Turkey can condemn and threaten Syria and Greece but still negotiate with them, as it did with Israel before Erdogan’s era. Erdogan was recently quoted as saying, “We believe it is useful to open clenched fists. We want disputes to be resolved through mutual dialogue at the negotiating table.” But it is hard to believe that Erdogan’s Turkey is capable of making such statements regarding Israel (which might answer the question of whether or not Erdogan is an antisemite).
Lastly, regarding Majdal Shams: The massacre of 12 children during a soccer match should have shocked Erdogan, who began his career as a soccer player.
Prof. Efrat Aviv is a senior researcher at the BESA Center and a senior lecturer in the Department of General History at Bar-Ilan University. A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
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US House Passes ICC Sanctions Bill Following Netanyahu Arrest Warrant
US House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to members of the media at the Capitol building, April 20, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation that would sanction members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (HR 23) calls for the warrants against the Israeli officials to be “condemned in the strongest possible terms,” labeling them as “illegitimate and baseless” actions that “create a damaging precedent that threatens the United States, Israel, and all United States partners who have not submitted to the ICC’s jurisdiction.”
The ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel as it is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the court. Other countries including the US have similarly not signed the ICC charter. However, the ICC has asserted jurisdiction by accepting “Palestine” as a signatory in 2015, despite no such state being recognized under international law.
Beyond condemning the arrest warrants, the bill would also impose sanctions on any officials with the ICC, or entities supporting the court, who seek to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute “any protected person of the United States and its allies.”
The bill easily passed by a margin of 243-140. House Republicans overwhelmingly backed the bill, with 198 voting in favor, zero voting against, one voting “present,” and 20 abstaining from voting. House Democrats were more divided on the bill, with 45 voting in favor, 140 voting against, and 30 abstaining from voting.
The proposed sanctions would target individuals “directly engaged in or otherwise aided any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person.” In addition, the legislation would freeze assets and ban visas of sanctioned individuals and allow the sitting president to waive individual sanctions if the waiver is considered critical to US national security interests.
US Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), a stalwart ally of Israel and co-sponsor of the bill, condemned the ICC on the floor of the House of Representatives.
“Israel is the tip of the spear in bringing the fight to an enemy that currently holds and has killed our fellow Americans,” said Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, referring to Israel’s military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), another co-sponsor of the bill, lambasted the ICC for taking an “unprecedented action” against Israel, arguing that the court’s actions are undermining the Jewish state’s ability to defend itself against Hamas terrorism.
Roy decried the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant as a “politicized witch hunt” and claimed that the ICC “doesn’t have any jurisdiction” over the defensive military operations of the Jewish state.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) issued a statement endorsing the bill.
“The ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants against the leadership of Israel represents the weaponization of international law at its most egregious,” Torres said. “The ICC has set a precedent for criminalizing self-defense: any country daring to defend itself against an enemy that exploits civilians as human shields will face persecution posing as prosecution.”
Immediately after the vote, pro-Israel organizations issued statements applauding the House for advancing legislation to sanction the ICC.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, praised the passage of HR 23.
“AIPAC commends the House for adopting the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons aiding the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) morally bankrupt and legally baseless attack against Israel,” AIPAC said in a statement.
The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) also celebrated the passage of the legislation, lauding Republican leadership in helping advance the bill through the House of Representatives.
“We thank [House Speaker Mike Johnson] and the [House Republican] majority for their leadership and prioritizing this critical legislation in week one of the 119th Congress,” the RJC wrote on X/Twitter.
In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas terror leader Ibrahim al-Masri (better known as Mohammed Deif) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. The ICC said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for starvation in Gaza and the persecution of Palestinians — charges vehemently denied by Israel, which has provided significant humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave throughout the war.
US and Israeli officials issued blistering condemnations of the ICC move, decrying the court for drawing a moral equivalence between Israel’s democratically elected leaders and the heads of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that launched the ongoing war in Gaza with its massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, initially made his surprise demand for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on the same day in May that he suddenly canceled a long-planned visit to both Gaza and Israel to collect evidence of alleged war crimes. The last-second cancellation infuriated US and British leaders, according to Reuters, which reported that the trip would have offered Israeli leaders a first opportunity to present their position and outline any action they were taking to respond to the war crime allegations.
Following the official issuing of arrest warrants in November, a slew of US lawmakers vowed to seek retribution against the ICC after President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month.
Incoming US Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has also threatened to push legislation imposing sanctions on the ICC if it does not halt its efforts to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials.
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California College Sued for Punishing Jewish Professor Over Conversation on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Photo: Edward H. Blake via Wikimedia Commons
A Jewish professor is suing the California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco for allegedly violating her rights by punishing her because she disagreed with students about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
According to court documents shared with The Algemeiner by the Deborah Project, a legal nonprofit which defends the civil rights of Jewish educators, Professor Karen Fiss’s tribulations began on Oct. 23, 2023, when she exchanged remarks with several members of the terrorist-linked Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group who summoned her to an anti-Zionist display and asked that she support the campaign for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Fiss scanned their materials — which included a sign that proclaimed the anti-Israel genocidal slogan “From the river to the sea,” artwork, and quick response (QR) codes promoting their cause — and initiated a dialogue with the students, asking what the slogan meant and what news sources they read. Offended by Fiss’s signaling she was not an anti-Zionist, one of the students tore down the “from the river to the sea sign” and began arguing that reports of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 were fabricated.
The conversation reached the fateful moment which precipitated Fiss’s lawsuit when one of the students, Maryiam Alwael, asserted that her knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was superior because she was a native of Kuwait, to which Fiss responded by asking the student if she was aware of the Kuwaiti government’s expulsion of 300,000 Palestinians in 1991. Fiss then argued for a more nuanced narrative of the Middle Eastern conflict, noting that not all Middle Easterners are anti-Israel and many oppose Hamas and disapprove of Iran’s backing of it. She ended by counseling the young women to avoid ideological echo chambers. Alwael said she liked her own views.
While both sides made sharp points, the conversation remained civil, according to court documents. However, the students interpreted Fiss’s comments as an attack on their identities and filed a complaint which accused her of being “harassing and discriminatory.” With little due process, Fiss was ultimately found guilty of the allegation and forced to submit to a series of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” trainings — a form of political rehabilitation in which subjects are forced to denounce key values of Western civilization such as the meritocracy and the sovereignty of the individual.
In explaining its guilty verdict, the college accused Fiss of being culturally insensitive and imposing her “power” on the women, who are ethnic minorities of color. Fiss, it said, “began explaining the history of Alwael’s country to her,” and “caused the students to reasonably believe” that Fiss was “using [her] positional power as a professor to get the outcome [she] sought, which was for the students to agree with [her] point of view.”
The college reached these findings but declined to apply the same logic to an earlier complaint Fiss had filed about the Critical Ethnic Studies program’s issuing a statement — “DECOLONIZATION IS NOT A DINNER PARTY,” it said — which justified Hamas’s violence and implied that Jews are not indigenous to their own homeland. This is because, the Deborah Project says, CCA rules are in place to protect left-wing anti-Zionism and punish Jews who oppose it.
“Because Dr. Fiss’s beliefs do not align with the creed mandated and enforced by the college, she has suffered repeated and severe adverse treatment by CCA, which has dramatically impeded her ability to function as a scholar,” the Deborah Project said in its complaint. “As part of its policy of enforcing ideological conformity about Israel, CCA has threatened Dr. Fiss with dismissal for two reasons: (1) her refusal to comply with student demands to contact her congressional representatives to pressure Israel — a sovereign nation — to cease its military response to an ongoing threat; and (2) for respectfully challenging this monopolization of discourse and reaffirming the principles of open dialogue and open debate within CCA.”
According to Lori Lowenthal Marcus, legal director of the Deborah Project, the college ignored Fiss’s concerns about widespread support for Hamas’s atrocities in Israel last Oct. 7, arguing they were simply expressions of free speech.
“Karen Fiss, a fully-tenured professor at CCA was told that her pain, intimidation, and horror upon learning that a huge number of not only students at CCA but her fellow faculty members, the department chairs, and members of the administration not only justified, but supported the wanton rape, torture, and murder of her co-religionists on Oct. 7 was not problematic as far as CCA was concerned because those positions were protected by free speech,” Lowenthal Marcus told The Algemeiner.
She added that CCA “accorded no such academic freedom to Dr. Fiss, who was disciplined for a single conversation that all parties agree was civil.”
“For this actual exercise of academic freedom,” Lowenthal Marcus concluded, “CCA found that Dr. Fiss’s speech constituted harassment of the Kuwaiti student. It was also found to be bullying, on the theory that Dr. Fiss was found to have used her position as a faculty member to pressure the students to adopt Dr. Fiss’s view — when it is undisputed that, throughout the conversation, the students did not even know Dr. Fiss was a professor. For this, Dr. Fiss’s file was permanently marked, and she was warned that if such a thing were to occur again, Fiss would suffer additional punishment, up to and including termination.
Now, with her reputation blighted by scandal and the college threatening revoke her tenure, Fiss is fighting for both her right to exist as a proud Jew at work as well as her right to free speech. She is suing CCA for discriminating against her for being Jewish, a violation of Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and breach of contract, offenses which caused her “substantial damages” and other trauma.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Jewish Voice for Peace’s ‘Extremist’ Anti-Israel Agenda, Terror Group Ties Highlighted in Report
Anti-Israel protesters take part in a demonstration hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America, IfNotNow Movement, and Jewish Voice for Peace that turned violent in Washington, DC, Nov. 15, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
A pro-Israel nonprofit has published a new bombshell booklet detailing the inner workings and funding of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a controversial and prominent anti-Zionist group that has helped organize widespread demonstrations against the Jewish state during the war in Gaza.
StandWithUs (SWU), an organization which promotes a mission of “supporting Israel and fighting antisemitism,” released the report examining how the far-left JVP — which defended the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel last Oct. 7 — “promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories” and even partners with terrorist organizations to achieve its “primary goal” of “dismantling the State of Israel.”
According to the report, JVP weaponizes the plight of Palestinians to advance an “extremist” agenda which promotes the destruction of Israel and whitewashes terrorism, receiving money from organizations that have ties to Middle Eastern countries such as Iran.
“JVP and its allies slander and dehumanize Israelis as privileged, powerful, and racist white European colonizers,” the report says. “They promote dangerous conspiracy theories tying Israelis to injustices against various communities” around the world.
The booklet points out that JVP pushes a misleading history of Jewish presence in the Middle East, ignoring that Jews “faced systemic discrimination at best and brutal violence at worst under Muslim and Arab rule, until almost all of them fled or were expelled in the 20th century.” SWU also notes that JVP has routinely labeled Jews as “racist” for expressing fear about the prospect of living as minorities in Israel.
“JVP simply refuses to acknowledge that most Jews genuinely see efforts to eliminate the world’s only Jewish state as a form of hate,” the report reads.
In addition, the report alleges that JVP advances “antisemitic conspiracy theories,” such as the notion that American police are trained by Israeli forces. This narrative suggests that Israel exacerbates alleged police brutality in the United States through training law enforcement to brutalize black people. Prominent anti-Israel pundits such as Marc Lamont Hill and Linda Sarsour have cited this misleading information in various public statements.
StandWithUs also alleges that JVP harbors deep connections and support for international terrorist groups, highlighting JVP’s record of support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization with the stated goal of dismantling Israel and replacing it with a Palestinian state.
“JVP has campaigned in support of PFLP terrorists, hosted PFLP members at events, and partnered with groups that openly support PFLP and other terrorist organizations,” the report reads.
In addition, the report states that JVP has collaborated with anti-Israel entities such as Samidoun, which identifies itself as a “Palestinian prisoner solidarity network, to hold rallies. Samidoun described Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities in Israel as “a brave and heroic operation.” The United States and Canada each imposed sanctions on Samidoun in October, labeling the organization a “sham charity” and accusing it of fundraising for terrorist groups such as PFLP. The US Treasury Department said that PFLP “uses Samidoun to maintain fundraising operations in both Europe and North America.”
“Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups,” Bradley Smith, the US Treasury Department’s acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement at the time.
The SWU report also says that JVP has ties to “extremist” anti-Israel groups such as Within Our Lifetime (WOL) and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM). Leadership for these groups have repeatedly expressed support for violence against Israel and terrorist groups. JVP has worked alongside these groups to hold anti-Israel demonstrations and marches.
According to the new report, JVP has received substantial financial assistance from organizations tied to Lebanon and Iran. For example, the Maximum Difference Foundation, which has been accused of maintaining ties with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an internationally designated terrorist organization, donated $65,000 to JVP.
JVP has also received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which according to SWU has funded other anti-Israel organizations, including Palestinian organizations linked with the PFLP.
The report additionally noted that JVP received $200,000 from The Quitiplas Foundation, which has allegedly donated to other organizations connected to Samidoun.
“JVP’s harmful rhetoric and alliances make it clear they are not a voice for peace,” StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein said in a statement accompanying the report’s release. “This organization fuels hate and shields extremists from accountability while doing nothing to bring about peaceful coexistence.”
“To help fight rising antisemitism, the public, media, and leaders across our society must finally recognize JVP’s dangerous agenda and reject it,” she said.
The Algemeiner has previously reported that JVP argued in a recently resurfaced 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing” to Palestinians.
In June, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) filed a complaint with the US Federal Election Commission accusing JVP’s political fundraising arm of misrepresenting its spending and receiving unlawful donations from corporate entities, citing “discrepancies” in the organization’s income and expense reports.
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